Sunday, 5 July 2009

'O' GROUP.......

My most recent order from Khurasan Miniatures was waiting for me when I got home on Friday. 10 mixed packs of Garn and 6 packs of Corporate Marines.

The Corporate Marines are really nice miniatures. Well sculpted and very much in human proportions. The MasterChef was worried about how thin the legs looked in the photos - I can assure him and anyone else, that the legs are fine, as is the shoulder armour. The figs match perfectly with GZG's new Ravagers which are still on my workbench.

I have two small gripes about the Corporate Marines. First, no VISORS. To me, simply, No Visors = No Sci Fi. It's a personal thing. I don't care whether the visors are chic Ray-Ban strips or half/full face affairs, I just want to see visors on my (human) Sci Fi miniatures!

Second. These miniatures like many currently available, they lack dynamism, being mostly in standyabouty poses. Which I guess is fine for a 'Corporate' Marine guarding premises, installations and corridors, or possibly any military force conducting planetary policing actions. As such, I think they are perfect for RPGs like classic TRAVELLER, where military miniatures in more dynamic combat poses look out of place when they are supposed to be doing guard duty, patrolling streets/spaceports or looking for fugitives in the local Cantina.

To be fair to Jon, he did ask me what changes I would like to see. Given any changes would be at a not inconsiderable cost to him and push back getting these miniatures cast, I didn't want to impose my foibles on miniatures that would likely sell anyway.

These comments aren't a critiscm of Khurasan's releases, more a gentle plea to sculptors and manufacturers. I know it's more costly to sculpt 3 different skirmishing men than an equal number of standing guys who are 'converted' by swivelling torso, moving arms and heads. But bear in mind that the drought of 15mm Sci Fi figures (in comparison with other gaming genres) that existed over the past twenty years has ended in a Tsunami of new releases this year.

Speaking with the MasterChef the other night, we recognise we are lucky to have a fair amount of disposable income that can be spent on our hobby. But we also have come to terms with the fact that it's simply not sustainable for us to continue purchasng new miniatures month after month, purely because they are the latest Sci Fi releases.

This isn't solely a financial decision, it's also a practical one. Like everyone, we have a backlog of miniatures to paint and other wargaming interests. Perhaps more importantly, few of the new releases enhance our core gaming project and we find that we are losing focus. Buying more but getting less done.

I for one, am going to sit back over the next few months, concentrate on my core forces, and wait to see what comes on the market. Even if there's a price hike in-between, I'd rather pay 10-15% extra for miniatures I want in September, that tick most or all my boxes, than spend 100% on something now that will be superceded on the tabletop and consigned to a drawer in the garage in August.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'd chatted with the MasterChef about this at the time of the 100th post. I had felt then that I had swayed from my intended direction. And that's the point being made in the post above. Both MC and I are agreed that we need to take a step back, complete current projects and and focus on our gaming. As a consequence more of what we are doing will appear here on the blog.